Chance Encounters

by Rosie Harris

A chance meeting in Liverpool will change Megan Lloyd's life in ways she could never have imagined . . .

August, 1942. 21-year-old Megan Lloyd is determined to do her bit for the war effort - and a chance encounter with an American army officer in Liverpool gives her an idea of how to do just that. Appalled at the plight of young women left pregnant and destitute following ill-fated love affairs with passing sailors or American GIs, Megan determines to establish a place of refuge for unmarried mothers - a plan which incurs her father's intense disapproval.

But Megan finds herself unprepared for the challenges that lie ahead. Trauma, drama, heartbreak and moments of great joy will follow - and in the midst of it all Megan will find unexpected love.

Genres: Historical

298 pages, Paperback

Published May 6, 2021

About the author

Rosie Harris was born in Cardiff and for several years worked in the City Hall. Her husband, Ken, was from Wallasey and after they married they lived on Merseyside for many years.
She has been writing since the 1950’s. In the 1960’s she ran her own agency, Regional Feature Service, writing articles for most of the provincial newspapers.
During the 70’s she became Editorial Controller for a non-fiction house.
In the 1980’s, after publishing a number of non-fiction titles she turned to fiction and during the 1980/90’s had a number of short stories published as well as five books by Sphere under the name Marion Harris.
Since 2002 she has had some 20 books published by Heinemann/Arrow. She sets her books in the 20’s because she has a great admiration for the women who were wives and mothers in those days. They had none of the current time-saving equipment – no washing machines or vacuum cleaners, no instant electric fires or cookers, and certainly no Internet. Their days were long and arduous and often they had to manage on very little money.
In 2005 she was one of the judges when Arrow and Asda collaborated in a major national competition to find the next big saga writer.
Her most recent titles are Love Changes Everything and The Quality of Love. The next, Whispers of Love, will be published in March 2010.

Reviews

[Linda Anderson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Too many details about slates

I sorry, but it started off well then just got tedius, fact it was based in the 40s and Merseyside was mentioned, there was no such name as merseyside that area which covered Liverpool and the surrounding areas was Lancashire, the Wirral was Cheshire. Was there any need for the history lesson, that looked like it was put there to enlarge the story, then there was too much detail regarding slate Mines. It ended rather poorly.

[Jonneke · Rating 2 out of 5]

~2 stars~

Okay, so, that was that. The concept of this story is good, a house for pregnant girls in the war. But for my feeling, it wasn't really the plot, more like a subplot. The whole book was just a bunch of subplots tied together. Also, the romance was something I didn't get. You read her thoughts all the time, and it never had romance in it, till the doctor randomly said that he liked her and boom, they get married. The ending was also confusing, because it didn't really make sense with the rest of the book. Sandra has a baby in the beginning, and nothing more. Megan has within 2/3 chapters 2 babies. Conclusion: it sounded nice, and it had much potential if they focused more on the pregnancy aspect, which did not happen right now.

Edit: there also were so many useless facts that didn't really needed to be there for the story. Might be fun for history people but then also not because the rest of the story

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

Each short chapter is like a warm cup of tea. The prose is straightforward, and Megan is a likeable protagonist. Her drive to help those in need keeps the story engaging.

Some of the historical details feel a bit superfluous, and the romances never truly sizzle. As a result I didn't often feel compelled, but I always felt comfortable.

[Phile · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you just want to pass the time, then this is for you.

[Emma Sargeant · Rating 2 out of 5]

I thought the idea behind this book would be really interesting to read - set in WW2, a young wealthy girl goes about setting up a home where pregnant young single girls can go to in the final stages of their pregnancy. However the book jumped from bit to another and you never really got much from it. Also their were too many coincidences and everything seemed to easy to really give much substance to the story.

[Gail · Rating 5 out of 5]

A GREAT book. It wrote about places on the Wirral & Wales, near where I lived and places l had been. I could picture the places as I read. So glad that I picked up this book, I found it hard to put down once I began reading.

[Bini · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm not sure how this book ended up on my reading list. Story line had a lot of potential, but the characters just did not come to life for me, nor did I find them very believable.

[Yvonne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyed the book very much.
I found the story very interesting as I to was adopted during the war years
So it meant a great deal
I admired how the author used her characters.